Safe
By Mike C Safes • 0 Comments

Top Home Safe Brands

Home safes are designed to keep your most valuable items secure and protected from theft, so choosing from the best top home safe brands is very important. Having a home safe will not only keep your valuables secure but often gives you a break in insurance rates as well. The insurance company will want to know the qualifications on your safe which will help to determine the replacement value of your valuables. Before rushing out and buying the first safe you see, there are some helpful tips to keep in mind.

 

Type of Safe

Do you want to store important documents, heirloom jewelry, or are you needing to keep cash safe at a business or maybe secure a gun? Whatever it is you want to keep inside your safe, this is the first consideration in shopping for the best safe brand for your needs. Maybe you simply want a safe place to protect priceless family items from fire or flood. Keep in mind, for instance, that a safe that has good fire protection ratings may not be the best safe for your needs to protect from flood or theft and vice versa.

 
Safes come in different:

Sizes

Styles

Materials Used (Steel, etc.)

Theft or Fire Protection (For instance, a safe made of steel will protect from thieves, but for fire protection, you will want two thin sheet metal boxes filled with a layer of fire board insulation)

Ratings

 

Safes are tested and given a rating. Safes that are intended to keep items free from theft go through rigorous testing to make sure they cannot be easily cracked open. A rating of TL15, for instance, means that it took at least 15 minutes before the safe could be opened during testing.

 

Some of the best top home safe brands include:

First Alert is one of the best home safe brands. The First Alert 2092DF is waterproof and fire safe with a digital lock. It provides amazing protection from water and fire damage as well as theft protection. You can bolt it to your floor without interfering with the waterproof resistance or fire proof aspects. The inside space of the safe is large enough to hold several valuables with its 1.31 cubit foot storage capacity and a removable shelf. It offers pry-proof and concealed hinges with live locking door bolts. The digital keypad is back lit to make it easy to lock or open with the right code even in the dark and has an emergency override key. It is made of steel, cement and ABS plastic and designed to sustain one hour of fire exposure and able to be fully submerged in water.

 

SentrySafe SFW123DSB is one of the top home safe brands and models offering protection from fire with a combination lock. The water resistant feature is less reliable than the First Alert model, but still offers some amount of water resistant protection, and is large enough to hold an air-tight container to resist inside condensation for photos or other keepsakes. The safe has a pry-resistant hinge bar and bolt-down hardware. Its weight is a theft deterrent and can also be bolted to the floor. The 1.2 cubic feet of inside space makes it large enough for several home valuables. It is UL classified to survive one hour of flames and heat from a fire.

 

Stack-On PS-515 home safe offers an electronic lock and is a nice, budget-friendly option. It delivers protection from burglary and is a decent medium sized basic for documents, jewelry or small firearms. It is a certified home gun safe with concealed hinges and two live action steel locking bolts. It is pry resistant with a solid 9 gauge steel door and 12 gauge steel sides and has a padded bottom and shelf. The keypad is easy to read and times out after three attempts to deter crooks.

Top Home Safe Brands

Other top home safe brands include names like Barska, Honeywell, and Paragon.

If you store your home safe inside a wall or on a floor board, be certain to bolt it down properly. Also, always keep it locked when not in use. Ultimately, when selecting from the top home safe brands, purchase the most expensive safe that fits within your budget.

Panic Bar & Fire Exit Hardware for Doors
By Mike C Business Locks Change • Commercial Locksmith • • • • 0 Comments

Panic Bar & Fire Exit Hardware for Doors

If you own or work in a commercial building or one with heavy public traffic, you will need to meet certain qualifications for panic bar & fire exit hardware for doors. The reason for this is to make sure the occupants have a safe way to quickly exit during an emergency. Your local code requirements will determine which type of exit device is appropriate and needed for your specific needs.

Panic hardware must consist of a door-latching assembly incorporating an activating device. The activating device is usually a horizontal bar or push pad that causes the door to unlatch when a force is applied in the direction of egress travel.

In official, complicated legal terms, panic bar and fire exit hardware need to follow specific requirements that are explained as follows:

Panic Bar Hardware must:

  • Have a maximum unlatching force of 15 pounds and able to be opened without special effort or knowledge.
  • The activating portion of the releasing device must extend at least one-half the width of the door leaf.
  • On balanced exit doors, the activating device must be a push-pad type and may not extend more than one-half the width of the door leaf from the latch side.
  • The activating device must be mounted at a height greater than 34 inches but less than 48 inches above the finished floor.

 

The International Building Code, IBC is the Life Safety Code that requires:

  • Panic hardware shall be listed in accordance with UL305
  • Fire exit hardware shall be listed in accordance with UL 10C and UL 305
  • The actuating portion of the releasing device shall extend at least one-half of the door leaf width and the maximum unlatching force shall not exceed 15 pounds.
  • If balanced doors are used and panic hardware is required, the panic hardware shall be the push-pad type and the pad shall not extend more than one-half the width of the door measured form the latch side.

In words a bit easier to understand, the difference between panic hardware and fire exit hardware basically comes down to one allowing fast exit in an emergency and the other allow a quick exit with some limitations for non-emergency use.

Panic Bar

Each specific device has its own purpose:

Panic hardware & Fire Exit Hardware are two different types of exit devices. The most obvious difference is the lack of mechanical dogging on a Fire Exit Device. Some internal parts may be different and the method it is secured to the door may vary.

 

Panic Hardware – An exit device that is used on a door that is not intended to be used as a fire door. Panic hardware allows the latches to be held retracted to create a push/pull function. Panic hardware is designed to provide building occupants fast egress in the case of an emergency. Because of its durability and ease of use, panic hardware is often installed on doors that don’t require it by code.

 

Fire Exit Hardware for Doors –  Fire exit hardware is panic hardware that is listed for use on fire door assemblies. These doors must be labeled as a fire exit with words “Listed” and “Fire Exit Hardware” and indicate a control or serial number. An exit device that is designed to be used for both panic and fire conditions and is required to be used on doors used during an emergency evacuation in case of a fire. Fire exit hardware does not incorporate mechanical dogging. Fire exit hardware must have positive latching. The swinging fire doors must be closed and positively latched to protect exit stairways, corridors, and other areas of the building from the spread of smoke and fire. They also must self close and automatically latch after each use.

 

Dogging devices are not permitted because swinging fire doors are required to positively latch. A dogging device mechanically defeats the latching feature of panic hardware preventing the door from positively latching when in the closed position. Dogging devices are usually activated manually with a small wrench or tool.

Feel free to contact our commercial locksmiths for more information.